Justice and Human Rights: A Gewirthian-Thomistic Perspective

Abstract

Former President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte, irritated by questions on the alleged human rights violations of his regime, argued that he is for human lives rather than for human rights.  This raises the question as to whether, in some cases, human rights may be violated to save lives.  Other issues come into play, such as the supposed suppression of rights by Lee Kuan Yew that paradoxically led to the economic success of Singapore.  President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr., in the Second Summit for Democracy, contrary to his predecessor, vowed to establish a human-rights-based approach to his governance.  But how would this be made different from the previous regime?  To clarify the interplay of human nature and rights, this article will first expound on the contemporary complexities in the application of human rights by governments utilizing local and international law, exposing the weaknesses of some theories, such as positivism.  Second, it would expound on the argument of St. Thomas Aquinas that human rights ought to be founded on justice.  Third, an attempt would be made exposing the argument that such a concept can be further enhanced by tracing the necessary implications of agency leading to the Principle of Generic Consistency (PGC) by Alan Gewirth.  In other words, it is hoped that obscurities surrounding human nature, agency, and rights could be clarified by considering that justice as a virtue links human rights to the person as its subject whose acts lead to the generic rights of freedom and well-being as universalized for all by the PGC.